I Will Be Light

It was creative and humorous and different. It featured a glittering rhinoceros and a knock knock joke with a rabbi. It was about Hanukah. It was about all of the fantastically rad lessons Judaism has taught me over the years —about myself, my family, and the world around me —about looking beyond anything that can be measured and searching for something bigger than myself.

And you know what, I spent a lot of time on that post too. Not because it was something great but because I didn’t want anyone Christian to read it and get offended.

Twenty-four hours after I wrote that post, none of that stuff matters. Fuck it.

Who cares about religion today? And who has any business getting offended when so many are hurt and heartbroken?

We all turn to prayer and take solace in faith, but today, what would it matter? Today when we are all trying to figure out how the killing of children and mothers fits in to the greater good, what would it matter what God they worshiped? What would it take to prevent it from happening again? What would it take to comfort the grieving and restore the light that was stolen today?

…I don’t know.

In Hebrew, Hanukah means dedication.

Or rededication if you ask certain people.

…I don’t know.

I do know that the first eight nights of light came out of horrific tragedy and destruction. I know that Hanukkah is a story of survival and restoration. And I also know that the most important lesson of Hanukkah is that light is not merely another creation, light is Creation’s ultimate goal.

very profound and thoughtful post. I agree…religion isn’t an important topic…how we treat each other and care for one another is what matters most. Your dedication is quite fitting. Bless your kind heart.

Happy Hanukah. Thank you for this lovely post. I am a Christian who believes that religion has no boundaries. Those sweet souls are resting in God’s arms today. We must stop these senseless tragedies.Hugs,Laura

Beautiful musical performance, thank you Aunt Peaches, I probably never would have had the pleasure of hearing it without your blog……evil walked into that school yesterday, your blog post about glittering rhinos, knock knocking Rabbis and the sharing of your faith DOES MATTER, it too is LIGHT and it proves evil hasn’t won.

For the last night of Hanukkah we will honor the light and pray that those so deeply affected by today’s events will find some small measure of solace in knowing that so many of us hold them close in our hearts.

This is a lovely post full of the light of Chanukah. There is nothing we can say or do tonight. The guy seems to have stolen guns and gone to a school without guns, so how can we protect from this sort of thing?